SIR Alex Ferguson has been told to 'reach for the stars' by new Manchester United owner Malcolm Glazer.

The Old Trafford boss will be given the ammunition by the American to fire the Reds back into serious Premiership title contention next season after two back-to-back third placed finishes.

Having also seen their Champions League stock fade, Ferguson will be buoyed by the news that he will have a flexible annual transfer budget to rebuild United.

M.E.N. Sport understands that the Reds manager won't be harshly restricted on the amount he can spend despite speculation of a yearly kitty capped at £25m.

Fans had feared that Fergie would be forced to compete in the transfer market with one hand tied behind his back and that could rule him out of potential interest in stars like Michael Essien.

With a rumoured £25m pot, United supporters were concerned there wouldn’t be enough financial muscle to capture the world’s best and restore United to the pinnacle of the English game and in Europe.

In the last four years the Reds had spent more than that amount three times on one player having bought Seba Veron for £29m in 2001, Rio Ferdinand for £30m in 2002 and last August they acquired Wayne Rooney for £29.9m.

Even in a depressed transfer market supporters were alarmed that the reported transfer funds would fall short of allowing Ferguson the freedom to construct a third generation of success at Old Trafford.

Judgement

However, it is believed that the Glazer family are prepared to back Fergie on his mission and trust his judgement.

The Florida based new owners, headed by youngest son Joel, want to improve the Old Trafford Empire and realise that what is produced on the pitch will drive their acquisition forward.

To that end if Ferguson targets a player to improve the Reds then he’ll be given the cash to land his quarry.

United have a second major instalment to pay Everton for Wayne Rooney on August 1 but that won’t affect any buys Ferguson wants to add to his senior squad this summer.

The Reds made an initial payment of £10m to the Merseysiders last August and a second £10m is due in five weeks.

Having already bought Edwin van der Sar from Fulham and Park Ji-sung from PSV Eindhoven for a combined fee of around £6m with the £10m Rooney payment to come out of the so-called £25m budget it was feared that only £9m would be left to barter with.

That would have left United out of contention for two of the hottest transfer targets of the summer.

But the Glazer family’s desire for the Reds to succeed on the pitch means Ferguson won’t be left scratching around for scraps once the transfer merry-go-round hots up this close season or in the future.